Defining Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is a serious crime as it endangers a patient’s life and even causes death. If allegation of medical malpractice is proved, the at-fault practitioner is held liable for whatever has caused to the patient. He/she may serve imprisonment and have to pay compensation for damages and loss incurred by the other party. However, before bringing a charge against a medical practitioner, one needs to understand what medical malpractice is and how it differs from simple medical error.

Understanding Medical Malpractices

Not every single mistake qualifies as medical malpractice. The plaintiff or his legal representative must establish presence of some important elements by dint of testimony and evidences to lodge a medical malpractice lawsuit against the suspect. Let us now have an overview of those must-have elements in a medical malpractice case.

A doctor-patient relationship

Any direct link between medical negligence and the patient’s suffering

In order to establish that medical malpractice happened and caused quantifiable harm to the patient in question, the lawyer has to define and describe those terms while producing documents and evidences in support of his claim and arguments.

The accepted standard of medical care often becomes the bone of contention between the two parties. It is not easy to define the standard of medical care and takes a long time to prove the following points:

Outlining the proper standard of care applicable to the patient’s case

Establishing the fact how the medical professional failed to maintain the standard

Medical Negligence

The plaintiff’s lawyer must also prove it beyond doubt that the defendant professional fell short of providing standard amount of care. It is his responsibility to present all the evidences to prove his point by detailing about the plaintiff’s condition, diagnosis, treatment and how the doctor failed to provide the standard care and treatment at every stage.

One should remember that any kind of mistake is not considered medical malpractice. It must be proved with solid evidences that the mistake actually led to quantifiable damage to the patient. The lawyer must prove that were it not for the error, the patient would not have undergone the terrible health condition.